Hartford, Conn. –  The Trinity College Bantam softball team quickly rebounded from a 12-5 loss in the first game to win the second game, 12-2, in a mercy-rule-shortened five innings and gain a New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) East Division doubleheader split against the visiting Tufts University Jumbos this afternoon.  Trinity, which salvages the third game of the weekend's three-game series after suffering a heartbreaking 5-4 loss in 13 innings on Friday, moves to 20-11 overall and finishes the NESCAC East schedule with an 8-4 mark.  The Bantams secure a spot in the NESCAC Championship Tournament next weekend at Tufts, earning their fifth bid to the league tourney and their first in three seasons.  The Jumbos are now 21-16 overall and finish 9-3 in the division, having clinched the top seed in the NESCAC East and home field throughout the NESCAC Tournament with its victory in the opener today.

Trinity senior RHP Kristen Anderson (West Haven, Conn.), after pitching all 13 innings yesterday and a pair of scoreless innings in the first game today, allowed five hits and two runs to earn the complete-game win in the circle in the nightcap. Training, 2-0, the Bantams jumped on Tufts for six runs in the bottom of the first inning highlighted by a three-run shot down the left field line by senior OF Melanie Orphanos (Norton, Mass.).  The Bantams tacked on three more runs in each of the next two frames, as rookie Olivia Berry (Quincy, Mass.) delivered a two-out, two-run single in the second inning and classmate Abby Ostrom (Carlisle, Mass.) had an RBI single in the third inning.  Tufts scored its two runs in the first inning on a two-out, two-run double by sophomore 2B Emily Beinecke (Concord, Mass.).

The first game was a wild affair in the early going, as Tufts scored once in the first inning on a wild pitch, Trinity scored three times in the bottom of the first on a leadoff double by sophomore SS Caroline Blanchard (Norwich, Conn.), an RBI single by senior co-captain 2B Katherine Stoltenberg (Montgomery, N.J.), two Tufts errors, and a sacrifice fly, and Tufts added five runs in the second frame on an RBI single by junior Lizzy Iuppa (Paramus, N.J.) and four Bantams miscues in the field.  Trinity senior co-captain Nicole Nardella (Beverly, Mass.) homered to open the bottom of the third frame and cut the deficit to 6-4, but Tufts answered with four runs in the top of the fourth.  Beinecke had a two-run double, and freshman OF Sarah Hedtler (Wrentham, Mass.) came through with an RBI single in the inning.  Tufts rookie RHP Lauren Giglio (Niskayuna, N.Y.) entered the game in the fourth inning and allowed just one hit and one walk with one strikeout following Nardella's blast.  Beinecke capped off a four-RBI game with a two-run jack in the fifth inning to account for the 12-5 final.

Game 1 box score

Game 2 box score